No matter where your route is located, chances are you'll deal with inclement weather at some point in your career. Hot and cold, rain and snow, and everything in between, preparing your truck can save you money and keep those wheels moving so you don't miss a day of business if you don't have to. We've compiled a list of tips from distributors to help you get your truck ready for whatever comes your way. 

2. Prep for the coming season

"We’re pretty dry out here in St. George, [Utah], so I make sure my air conditioning and my heater are in tip-top shape. Through the winter, we check out the A/C units and make sure everything’s good, do a clean-out of filters and whatnot. Same thing with the heater. We do a run before it gets cold to make sure the heaters work. That way if there’s any repair work that’s got to be done, it can be done before you get scorched out or before it gets too cold and you don’t have a heater in the truck."

—Gabe Felix, Cornwell Quality Tools

3. Communicate with your customers

Now that I'm running four days a week, it's super convenient to go, 'Hey, we got snow on Tuesday, I'll be around Wednesday and I'll still get to see everybody this week.' You have to text people if you're going to miss them. If it's a snow day, you have to sit down with your computer and just go through and text, 'Do you need anything? I can come out in my 4x4.' And if they do, they've got to run a payment, too. You can't be afraid to ask for that payment if it's missed. I'm not 100 percent perfect, but I do try to text people. I have everybody in my phone, and everybody's on Messenger."

—Mike Stoner, independent

4. Setting your truck temp for your customers

"I have my heater running or my air conditioner depending on what it is, but it's not too hot, right? [My truck] is warmer than it is outside, but not a lot because most of your guys that are working in the weather, they're dressed for the weather. So, if it's 75 degrees in the truck, you ain't gonna hang out in the truck, because he's in coveralls and his long handles. It's hot as hell for him, so I'd probably keep it somewhere between 58 and 65 [degrees], depending on the shops that I'm visiting and what they do."

—Tim Lawrence, Mac Tools

5. Drive mindfully

"We live in Central Oregon. We get snow and black ice, so we're always driving in these conditions. There's really nothing to prepare for them other than just being cautious about everybody and what you're doing. I mean, you're driving 24 to 25 thousand pounds of equipment; it's a lot of weight to be on the road, so you have to be mindful of that."

—Elias Valdovinos, Cornwell Quality Tools